As the Blind Sees
by Rei-Fokkusu
Summary: Naruto's eyes see nothing and yet they see all. Blinded at a young age he can see right through a persons soul and now he has been unleashed upon the world.
1. Seeing Blind

A/N:Hey peeps, you should all know that the only reason this got out is because of a very large amout of help from my sister CRO. I'm only saying coz I like my head attached. . .

Disclaimer: Guess what guys! I just won lotto, became a multi-billionair and bought Naruto. . . Of course it was then that I woke up. . . so I do not own Naruto. Never did, never will.

So by now your all mentally screaming at me 'HURRY UP AND GET ON WITH IT!' so go. . .read the story.

* * *

_The first time I saw the boy, he was protecting the bridge builder from Zabuza-san. I could tell, just by looking at him, that he was different, that he had something the rest of us didn't. He had vision: a vision so powerful, it could see peace through the blindness I didn't realise plagued him. -Haku_

* * *

Zabuza had at first glance noticed that the konoichi of the team was practically useless, hiding behind the rest of the them. The guy with hair that looks like a ducks-butt the most competent and sharpest of the genin. The blond seemed to be a goof who didn't understand the concept of a ninja. First glances can be deceiving.

"He he, wearing forehead protectors and acting like real ninja," Zabuza sneered, causing the confusion of the genin he was talking to.

"A real ninja is someone who has survived numerous brushes with death. Basically, once you are good enough to be listed in my bingo book then you can start calling yourself a ninja, you guys should not be referred to as ninjas." With that he launched his attack, not giving them time to react.

As Zabuzu rushed the 3 genin, aiming to kill them and move on to his target, he was struck by the oddity of the blond kid. He was focused, intent on protecting the bridge builder. His stance was deceivingly clumsy but perfect, just so that Zabuza would have to attack twice to create an opening, or hack straight through his too thin arms.

But that was not the most surprising part, what surprised him was the eyes, Zabuza could tell that they could _see_, not the petty sight that everyone else had. He was blind, that seemed certain, but with his clear blue eyes he saw straight through him. Past the outward appearance and to the hidden soul underneath. The one he had discarded years ago as a petty thing he had no need for.

This kid was powerful.

Though it was well hidden he was subtly alert, his clumsy stance hiding the way he held himself, poised and ready. He vaguely reminded Zabuza of a fox, sneaky, subtle and hiding the truth. Like a shinobi was meant to be.

As Zabuza ran, he quickly decided to spare the kid, fate had something in store for him that was not meant to be stopped. These thoughts came and went in less than a second, leaving him with five meters to go to reach his opponent. Closing the distance, he swung his sword, looking for all purposes like he was going to cleave them all in two.

"Guys, run and hope he doesn't catch you! There is no way you can fight him, just leave me!" The-idiot-who-got-himself-caught yelled from inside the water prison.

His students had a few seconds they needed to look at him as if he were stupid before needing to save their skin.

They dropped to the ground, avoiding the lethal blow and Zabuza nearly over swung, only training making it so his sword didn't throw him off-balance for a moment but still exposing his side. It was in that moment that the blond got up and delivered a severe kick to his ribs. From the outside it looked clumsy like the rest of his movements, but it had such force that the missing-nin almost lost his balance.

Then, in a move that should have been impossible for anyone, even his old buddy Kisame, the boy made near about 50 shadow clones, the motion so practiced he may as well have been asleep.

"No way are we going to leave you!" The original blonde yelled, looking really threatening, not quite managing to glare at the idiot who got himself caught.

"Naruto's right, sensei. He who breaks the rules are scum, but he who abandons his friends are worst than scum." The kid with the duck butt hair continued.

'So the blonde's name is Naruto, huh? That's interesting.' Zabuza thought to himself as the shadow clones charged.

They acted as a mass, knowing what to do with no words or signals passing. 10 went to free their sensei -the copy nin Kakashi- from the water prison jutsu his clone had him trapped in. 10 reinforced the guard around Tazuna while 20 attacked him dead on with tai-jutsu. The remaining 10 stood back and watched, gathering information about his style of fighting as he dispelled all the other clones.

Once engaging the clones, Zabuza had quickly lost track of the original Naruto. Although the exchange lasted mere seconds - one swipe of his sword dispelling almost half the clones - he soon found himself in a little strife as a fireball was launched at him, it had come from the direction of the duck butt boy.

'Uchiha? Looks like it.' Zabuza debated to himself as he dodged the impressive ball of flame.

Regaining his feet, Zabuza quickly performed his trademark jutsu: The hidden mist jutsu. Buying time by hiding in the mist Zabuza quickly reviewed the info he had gathered.

'I'm fighting Hatake Kakashi, the copy nin, a useless pink haired konoichi, a possible Uchiha with a not-yet-revealed bloodline and a few fire techniques, not to mention a blind blond by the name of Naruto who is so good at acting the idiot it was like he'd done so all his life and can spam shadow clones without breaking a sweat.'

The problem, with Hatake still trapped in the water prison, was the blonde. The same blond that was blind, had masses of chakra and probably a tai-jutsu that made him look weak but was also very strong. An effective way to make an enemy shinobi underestimate you, such mistakes often left the enemy dead in a pool of their own blood. It was also likely that the ones truly fooled, though, were his friends.

"You're pretty impressive for a brat, we might be able to make a ninja out of you yet."

Before he could go into a more detailed analysis of his opponents, he felt a chakra to his left surge along with the yell of "Kuchiyose no jutsu." He belatedly realised that while he was observing the genin, he had let said genin free the true problem. Though the copy nin may not be so much of an uncertainty as the blond, it was safe to assume he's deadlier. An inhuman shape in the mist confirmed that the new chakras he felt were that of summoned beings.

A quick look told him that the blond had gone back to playing the idiot, now that there was no immediate threat to the mission he had moved from his assigned task. That left Hatake the only one with enough chakra to summon, and if the bingo book was accurate he had summoned ninja hounds.

The dogs quickly found him by sniffing the air, latching onto his limbs with their strong jaws. Using hand to hand combat he managed to dispel the summons with minimal effort, barely evading Kakashi's fist as it came towards his face.

As the fight continued he felt himself tiring quickly, a result of expending so much chakra with his water prison jutsu. The blond was also turning out to be quite a pain as he kept sending in waves of clones, despite having fallen back, forcing him to take his attention from Kakashi. This proved an effective battle plan for them as he was hit with a number of different jutsu.

Kakashi, noticing Zabuza slowing, and tiring himself, prepared a finishing move to take him out. That was until he saw multiple senbon shooting out of a tree and hitting the missing-nin on the neck, hitting a pressure point and killing him.

From that same tree came a hunter nin with the village symbol of Kiri on his mask.

"Thank you for occupying Zabuza, I have been trailing him for months," the hunter nin said.

"What the hell? Who are you?" the blond demanded, screaming and pointing at the hunter nin.

"Don't worry, Naruto. He's not an enemy." Kakashi told him.

"I'm not asking that! That Zabuza… that Zabuza was killed! A guy that strong… A guy that strong was killed by a kid! By a kid not much different from me! We look stupid! How can I accept that?" Naruto ranted.

"Well, I know how you feel, but this is the truth. In this world there exists kids younger than you, yet stronger than me." Kakashi told him.

The hunter nin decided he had heard enough and grabbed Zabuza's body, quickly leaving in a shunshin.

* * *

The hunter nin sat back as Zabuza reached up and pulled the senbon out of his neck.

"You're brutal, Haku, that one really hurt." Zabuza told the nin, Haku.

"My deepest apologies Zabuza-sama, however the copy-nin Kakashi would have seen through the façade if I wasn't." Haku explained hastily, trying to appease the man he would follow to the ends of earth.

"He's not who I'm worried about, that guy was on the verge of passing out as we left. I'm worried about the blond brat." Zabuza explained, rubbing his neck both in worry and to get rid of the last of the aches.

"Can I ask, Zabuza-sama, just what about the boy gets you nervous? Beside the clones, I mean." Haku asked tentatively.

"Sure, he could be super powerful one day, even I can see that. But that day isn't today, he's just a blundering idiot. No, Zabuza-sama, don't get up yet. You need to take it easy."

"A shinobi's best weapon is deceit, never forget that Haku." Zabuza said, walking away despite Haku trying to stop him.

"Hai, Zabuza-sama"

"Go to Gato, do not kill him. I want you to secure half the payment to this job. That last fight should have gotten me at least a million ryo." Zabuza ordered Haku.

* * *

Long silky black hair casceded down the boy's back as he let it out of the bun net he had it confined in. Slowly, he brushed it. He wanted to be gone early so that he could be back before his precious person awoke, but not so early that the dew hadn't dried yet. He chose an outfit from the cupboard and shrugged it on. Grabbing his basket, he walked out.

As Haku was picking herbs, he saw the strange boy that made Zabuza edgy, recalling his words from earlier Haku approached him. The boy was asleep, though the reason why he was so far into the forest escaped the cross-dressing nin. Gently he shook the boy awake. "You'll catch a cold sleeping out here," He said.

* * *

**OMAKE**

Sasuke had, for the first time since _that_ had happened, escaped his fan girls. He had heard tales of these hoards of women scaring full grown men. For him, a young boy of age 7 whose family had just been murdered, the large group of females constantly chasing him was terrifying.

He decided that since he had finally escaped his fans, he'd go sit on _his _jetty down by _his _lake. Too bad there was already someone there. He was about to go yell at the perpetrator about sitting in his spot. He had always had people do what he said before and they were even more eager to do what he said now.

As he got to the jetty he realised that the person sitting on the jetty was the dobe of his class in the academy, nobody could ever remember the boys name, just that he was to be avoided.

"Oi, d-" he almost yelled. Before realising 'oh, yeah. I'm like him now. Children alone in a world full of adults.'

Slowly he walked over, wondering if he should talk to the kid or leave him alone like his father always told him. The choice was taken away from him though.

"Hey, Sasuke!" The boy, whose name he now remembered to be Uzumaki Naruto, yelled over to him.

"Come here, I wanna talk to you!" he was standing now and Sasuke cautiously walked over, half scared his br- _that man _was gonna jump out and remind him that his father forbade him from talking to the boy.

'But father's dead.' Something inside reminded him and he made up his mind. He walked down the jetty purposely, no longer concerned about anything else. Naruto sat down when he got there and he sat down beside him. Sasuke sat still, clan training still deep within him, watching his companion. Neither of them spoke even though it was clear their was something on the dobe's mind. He dangled his feet in the water and fiddled with something in his fingers.

"Sasuke, I don't know how to say this." he said after a long time. The silence hadn't been awkward but it had gotten the Uchiha curious what could make such a normally bright and happy boy suddenly shy.

"As long as you don't ask anything really difficult, I'll listen." He told the blond boy, not sure what he was getting at.

"I've never had a friend, is this what friends do?" Naruto asked, ducking his head quickly and looking away from Sasuke's eyes.

Sasuke smiled, albeit small. "Yes, this is what friends do." He said. Naruto smiled brightly.

"Well," he said, "did you want to do this again? Just sitting here where noone will look for us. Where we can be with someone who knows what it's like?"

"Sure. That'll be nice." He said, watching as Naruto stood up.

"I've gotta run, and so do you." Naruto said, jumping into the lake. And right then Sasuke was attacked by both his fangirls and the crazy snake lady he sometimes saw in the village.

* * *

A/N: So now that I have nothing to say. . . . Please review. I would appreciate it and be encourage to write this alot more. Thanks. Cya.

-Rei


	2. Seeing No one

A/N: I'm back! Sorry for the wait life got in the way, been busy with christmas coming and all. So here's the next chapter of As the Blind Sees. Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Oh, and I don't own Naruto, seriously if I did would I write a fanfic about it?

* * *

I always knew he was an orphan, but I could never appreciate that fact until. . . I saw him training -I think he was training- and thought to myself, 'is this really the same person? The same dobe? No, he isn't. There is no dobe, no class loser for everyone to laugh at. There is only the shinobi, someone who lives in the shadows and cloaks himself in deceit, there is only Uzumaki Naruto. He is the master shinobi who covers up what he truly is and I want to be that too. - Uchiha Sasuke

* * *

"I'm not asking that! That Zabuza… that Zabuza was killed! A guy that strong… A guy that strong was killed by a kid! By a kid not much different from me! We look stupid! How can I accept that?" Naruto ranted.

"Well, I know how you feel, but this is the truth. In this world there exists kids younger than you, yet stronger than me." Kakashi told him.

The hunter nin decided he had heard enough and grabbed Zabuza's body, quickly leaving in a shunshin.

"I'm sorry guys, but I think I overdid it a bit."Kakashi said, promptly passing out from a minor case of chakra exhaustion.

As they walked to Tazuna's house -Kakashi on an emergency stretcher sealed in a first aid scroll and carried by Naruto and Sasuke- they all discussed the recent events.

Tazuna was praising the high heavens "thank God I'm alive, there were some close calls. You kids did well"

Sakura praising Sasuke "my God, I'm so weak! I couldn't do anything! But Sasuke-kun, you were amazing. . . Shooting fireballs at that nin."

Sasuke's thoughts went something along the lines of 'Where did Naruto get such power from? Those were tangible clones. . . '

"That was pretty impressive, Naruto." Sasuke said, hiding the turmoil inside.

"I think I could work with you in the future."

Naruto was thinking very deeply on what had happened, comparing it to what he knew of both Momochi Zabuza, one of the seven swordsmen of the mist and the way hunter nins did their job. 'Zabuza is quite skilful and there were multiple opportunities in which he could have killed me. Why didn't he? It is also likely that he is still alive, hunter nin's cut off the head on the spot, but this one took the body away.

Despite him seeming dead, there are a few pressure points on the body that can put a person in a near death state. If the hunter nin achieved that with his senbon, then he has deadly accuracy. I should be wary of these guys. Not to mention the way his chakra was still circulating the same, unlike how the chakra of the newly dead is supposed to seep into the Earth.'

All up Naruto figured that Zabuza left him alive for unknown reasons, is still alive himself and the hunter nin is a phony, but he wasn't going to frighten everyone by sharing such thoughts until Kakashi woke up.

When they finally got to the house Tazuna's daughter, a pretty and caring woman by the name of Tsunami, told the boys to put Kakashi on the couch. Bustling through the kitchen, Tsunami saw to it that all the conscious travellers were fed then, with the guidance of Sakura, put together a tea to help Kakashi regain his chakra.

Several hours later saw Kakashi waking up.

Sakura was yelling about it, Sasuke was brooding and Naruto seemed to be listening to something, not that Kakashi knew what.

"Sensei, can I talk to you?" he asked almost shyly but that couldn't be right.

Loud, knuckleheaded, unpredictable Uzumaki: Shy. It just didn't match up.

"Yeah, sure." he said.

"Alone" Naruto replied.

"Guys" Kakashi breathed, not needing any more than that to get the message across.

Only once they were gone did Naruto talk. "Sensei, I don't think that hunter nin killed Zabuza outright. I think they were working together and that Zabuza's still alive."

Kakashi immediately froze. Trying to recall what had happened at the end of the fight. Failing, the man then turned to his student.

"What did the nin do with the body?" He asked, a hint of nervousness tainting his voice.

"That's the thing," came the reply. "He left with the body, no head cutting or additional injuries. I t was just grab the body and go."

"Good analysis Naruto, we will need to do a little training so you will have a chance next time. In case I'm still out of the fight."

"What kind of training?" Naruto asked curiously.

"You'll see, can you go get the others? We need to tell them of this development."

"Sure sensei, I'll be right back." With this Naruto left to get the others.

In the kitchen Sakura was fawning over Sasuke, Tsunami was cooking and Tazuna was helping out a little.

"Hey guys," Naruto interrupted, "Sensei wanted to talk to us"

With a mumbled "hai" they soon entered Kakashi's temporary room to find him standing with some crutches for support.

Once they were all present Kakashi started talking. "I'm going to give you a little training, you'll learn to climb trees without using your hands.

"WHAT! But sensei that's impossible, I'm not stupid enough to try do that!" Naruto immediately yelled, indignant.

"Just follow me, do you really think I'd ask you to do something impossible?" The man asked.

"Yes" Naruto pouted as they left, already knowing how to climb trees. Without hands.

* * *

Once in the forest, Kakashi demonstrated, standing upside-down on the tree branch as if it was a normal, everyday occurrence.

He then explained exactly how he achieved it and told them to have a go. By his estimate, Sakura would find it easiest due to have only a little chakra to control. Sasuke would then be next, having a good balance between reserves and control while Naruto would struggle, only because he had such large reserves. Curtesy of the fox.

But Kakashi had faith, knowing that Naruto had both the stamina and determination to try and try again, until he succeeds.

He was pulled out of his musing by Sakura sitting on a branch swinging her legs.

"Kakashi-sensei, you made it sound so much harder then it actually is. You do realize that, don't you?" Sakura said.

Sasuke fell from the tree he was climbing and Naruto face planted into the tree he was about to climb. Both out of shock that she had done it with such ease.

After failing another 10 times, Naruto went over to Sakura to ask for some tips, mentally encouraging Sasuke to do the same.

"Ne, Sakura" Naruto started, in a hushed voice.

"Yes Naruto?" She whispered back.

"Don't tell Sasuke but, I was hoping that you could give me some pointers with this, I really can't seem to stick to the tree." Came the slightly sheepish reply.

Sakura laughed lightly, "Naruto, all you have to do is stay calm and concentrate. It will make your chakra much calmer as well and easier to stabilise, therefore sticking to the tree."

"Thanks Sakura-chan" Naruto said, leaving Sakura and returning to his training.

Once having received his tips, Naruto threw himself at the tree once again, improving at an increased rate.

Having observed them for a good half hour, Kakashi left to get some rest, hoping he could recover by the time Zabuza struck the bridge.

Naruto and Sasuke continued to climb the trees. Determined not to let the other get to the top first.

Three hours later they both wondered in, right when tea was being served, leaning on each other to support themselves as they stumbled across the room to their seats.

Halfway through tea -Naruto on his 2nd serve- Sakura spoke up.

"Ne Sensei, what did Naruto want to talk to you about earlier? It must have been important to get you to come teach us the tree climbing."

"About that, I think I should tell you that Zabuza is still alive."

Different reactions circled the room. Sasuke brooded, not much change there. Tazuna and Tsunami froze while Inari gripped his knife harder in his hand.

Naruto and Kakashi both remained neutral while Sakura screamed "NANI" loud enough for the entre town to hear in Naruto's opinion.

Of course Naruto had better hearing than most people.

Once Sakura had calmed down Kakashi explained his reasoning. Which was Naruto's reasoning really, but who cares about technicalities.

"Hunter nins are a section of ANBU charged with disposing of nin who abandon their home village. After taking missing-nin down they cut off the head and dispose of the body immediately and on the spot." Kakashi said, giving them a lecture.

"But sensei." Sakura started,

"The hunter nin we saw didn't do that. He took Zabuza's body with him."

"Yes, there is also the weapon he used. Senbon have a low fatality rate, only killing when they his a vital spot. Hunter nin have to have extensive knowledge of the human body. Even then, it doesn't make sense to use such an uncertain method of killing.

During this talk no one noticed Inari gripping is eating weapon hared and harder. Finally he snapped.

"YOUR ALL GOING TO DIE!" he yelled, surprising everyone in the room.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Naruto yelled back.

"THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN WIN AGAINST GATOU" Came the reply.

"YOU BRAT I'LL-" Naruto began.

"WHAT ARE YOU GETTING ANGRY AT A CHILD FOR! Idiot" Sakura yelled at Naruto

"Look, I'm going to be the Hokage one day, the greatest hero of the village. I don't know this Gatou character, but whoever he is, he's got nothing on me"

"What are you? Stupid? There is no such thing as a hero." Inari said, his voice turning dead and emotionless as he spoke.

"WHAT!"

"Stop it!" Sakura commanded?

"If you don't want to die, you should leave." Inari said.

"No matter what this guy throws at us, we're not leaving. I have to become Hokage so I can't die before then." Naruto proclaimed.

"Why do you guys bother to try so hard? You're weak against Gatou. And when facing the strong, the weak only end up getting hurt."

"Whatever kid, I'm not like you" Naruto countered.

"I'd hate to be like you, you don't know anything about this country, yet your being so nosy. What the hell do you know about me? I'm different from you, you're always clowning around and acting so cheerful. You don't know how hard life can be." Inari cries.

"So. . . it's okay to pose as the star of tragedy and cry all day? Just keep on crying forever you idiot, you little sissy. I've experienced more pain then you could ever imagine. You're lucky, you have a loving family, I was an orphan -am an orphan- and nobody knows who my parents were. I've been shunned and treated as an outcast my whole life. Don't talk to me about pain."

"Naruto, you've said enough." Kakashi said, diffusing the situation.

Inari immediately left the room, ignoring Tazuna's worried question of " where are you going?"

Naruto, also having had enough, stalked out the room saying he's going to go train.

All the others were still sitting at the table, too shocked to do anything. Except for Kakashi, who new better then to bother a person when they were like this.

"Is it true?" Sakura tentatively asked. "Is it true that Naruto has been shunned his whole life?"

After a slight pause, Kakashi answered. "Just then, Naruto only scratched the surface of what he has been put through."

Silence once again reigned through the room. Only to be broken by Sasuke leaving through the same door as Inari.

As he walked Sasuke thought on the events that occurred at tea. He thought on all the times he was told by his parents -and any other adult for that matter- to stay away from Naruto, the demon child as they occasionally put it.

He had always wondered what Naruto had done, why everyone hated him so much. Whenever he asked, it was brushed off, usually with something like 'just stay away from him' or 'that kid will always be bad news.'

He had watched as parents would take their kids home from the park, right when Naruto arrived. Of course it was then that he to was told to come home. If he was alone someone else told him to go.

No matter what no one wanted their children around the boy.

He then thought of the times he had talked to the boy himself. After the massacre. He had asked what he did but Naruto didn't know either. From his point of view he had done nothing wrong, other then the occasional prank but nothing serious.

Apparently he had suffered more then he let on. Although their talks were never long, with the crazy fangirls always interrupting, they did show another side of the supposed idiot; it seemed there was even more that the boy was hiding.

By now Sasuke was in bed, laying down and thinking of events long past. He could hear Sensei talking to Inari, but the voices were too far away and muffled to understand what was being said.

So he continued to think.

He remembered how on the day they were meant to meet their sensei, after Sakura had gone home and told her parents who was in her team, that they had requested that Naruto get moved from the team. That they didn't want such an evil child near their daughter. They had said that he enjoyed creating chaos, mayhem and destruction.

He continued to think. Questions swirling around in his head. What did he do? Who were his parents? Why did he pretend? Why was he hated? Was there even a reason? Or was it just a case of a scapegoat? Attack the poor defenceless orphan.

After a while Sasuke fell into a troubled sleep. His dreams focusing on the massacre he would rather forget. Bringing up memories he had buried within hatred.

* * *

In the morning Naruto had still not returned, so when Sakura went to the bridge to guard Tazuna, Sasuke was ordered to go find Naruto.

Wondering through the forest towards the spot where they had been training, he kept his eyes peeled for any signs of the orange jumpsuit that the blond had been wearing. Knowing it would be the easiest thing to spot.

Once he saw that Naruto was not next to the trees they had been running up, Sasuke had a look around. Taking to the trees himself in case the blonde had camped in the branches and to get an aerial view.

From there he saw a spot of grass that had been flattened. Specifically in a shape that'd fit hi teammate perfectly, if he was laying spread eagle. There was also signs of a battle. The trees with slashes and kunai sticking into them, the ground turned up with the evidence of jutsu being used.

This caused a little worry to form in the pit of Sasuke's stomach.

Knowing that he had rather poor tracking skills he decided that he would get Kakashi-sensei to have a look. Hoping he could prove that Sasuke's rising doubt's were false and he had wondered off.

As he ran his doubt's just kept growing. Neither seeing nor hearing any sign of Naruto to ease his mind.

The moment the Uchiha got to the house he immediately located Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, I can't find Naruto. And there are signs of a fight." Sasuke said, panic edging his voice.

Kakashi immediately started questioning Sasuke.

"Where did you look?"

"I looked where we had been training and the only thing I saw was a flattened patch of grass. There were also signs of a battle. Kunai in the trees and some slashes." Sasuke said, briefly reporting what he had seen.

"I know I have poor tracking skills Sensei, that's why I came back, I thought you might be able to figure out what happened much better then I could."

"Good choice Sasuke. I should be well enough by now to go and have a look." Kakashi said as he got up and put back on his ninja sandals. "Lead me to the area."

"Hai" Came the response from the boy. Recognizing that this was a time for focusing, not slacking off.

* * *

They arrived quickly at the scene, both running as fast as they dared, keeping in mind Kakashi's weak state.

The first thing Kakashi did was summon Pakkun, being the easiest to summon and within safe bounds of chakra.

"Pakkun, I need you to find any scent of Naruto for me, do you know what he smells like?" Kakashi ordered the pug.

"Sure thing. I know what he smells like, I've had to find him before remember?" Pukkun replied. Referring to Kakashi's ANBU days when they had to find the blond after he once again slipped under their radar.

"Right, well can you please find him now, he seems to have disappeared." Kakashi once again ordered the summon.

"On it." With that the dog immediately started to sniff around. He first circled the flattened patch before following the scent off towards nowhere. After stopping and once again circling an area he continued in the same direction as before, after circling yet another spot -an area with the grass was also slightly flattened- he sat down and gave his report.

"His scent is all over the clearing, but there is a strong scent coming from over there, where it appears he was laying for a long period of time. There is a second scent here that is mixed with herbs, also all over the clearing. This person appears to have sat for a little while. Finally they both walked towards each other, meeting in the middle before disappearing. From the chakra residue I would say in a shunshin. " He finished.

"Can you follow the trail of the second person, to see if we can locate Naruto from there?"

"Hai, just give me a moment." With this Pakkun once again stuck his nose to the ground and continued to sniff around.

Throughout all of this Sasuke said nothing.

After a little while of sniffing -3 miles away from where they started- the dog once again circled a spot and sat down. He then reported what he had found.

"It would seem that the person we are following also performed a shunshin to get here. Leaving us with no trail to follow."

Kakashi cursed, rather colourfully in Sasuke's opinion. "Damnit, I swore to never lose another comrade. I have failed again."

Eventually they went back to the house, knowing that there was nothing they could do to find Naruto.

It was just as they arrived that Tazuna and Sakura walked through the door, coming home from building the bridge.

Sakura, who had been laughing as they walked in, immediately caught the mood and stopped. Wondering what had everyone so down she asked.

"What's up? Is it Naruto? Is he okay?"

"Sakura," Kakashi started. After a slight pause he gathered his thoughts and continued "We believe Naruto has been kidnapped."

For a moment Sakura was at a loss for words, before muttering out a small ". . . What?"

"It is likely Naruto has been kidnapped. The is evidence of a fight and there was no trail left to follow as they left in a shunshin." Kakashi said.

"Sakura, I know this must be hard for you, but we must continue the mission. Naruto wouldn't want us to give up, not when we've gotten so far. You can mourn his loss later. We'll all take a week off when we get back to Konoha."

"Okay Sensei, you're right we need to finish the mission." Sakura said, teary eyed.

"Sasuke, are you okay? I need the all good of my team, if your in bad mental state it can affect team dynamics." Kakashi asked, slight worry in his voice.

"Hai, sensei, I'll manage. I can mourn once we get back to Konoha." Sasuke replied with determination.

"Good. Until then we all guard the bridge builder, I'll teach you the water walking exercise as well. Now go to bed, it's late."

"Hai Sensei." They both replied. It was getting late.

* * *

A week passed quickly, The bridge was almost complete -only a few meters to go- and the two genin had quickly gotten the water walking exercise down.

It took Sakura about 10 tries before she could stand on the water like she could land, Sasuke took 3 day with countless tries before he was at the same level. There was still no sign of Naruto.

At the moment Sasuke and Sakura were both helping with the bridge, carrying stuff around for the builders.

Slowly, a mist started to appear. It took several hours for it to be thick enough to stop work, and nobody really noticed it, it came in so slow.

"Everyone pack up for the day." Came a yell from Tazuna "This mist will make it too hard to work so we will come back tomorrow."

Hearing this Sakura and Sasuke both put what they were carrying down and peered into the fog while their sensei, still reading his beloved book, wondered over.

"Ne Sasuke-kun, is that a person over there?" Sakura asked squinting to see through the fog.

"Oh yeah, I can't think who it is though, doesn't look like one of the workers I've seen. What do you think, Sensei?

Looking up from his book Kakashi also saw the figure briefly, right before the mist became too thick to see five meters in front of you.

The figure, however, kept on walking. Not hindered at all by the low visibility or the mist soaking his clothes.

Suddenly he stopped, just within the visibility of the three ninja. At the same time he spoke "Hey guys, I'm back."

* * *

A/N: So that's the second chapter, it's longer then the first thankfully and I hope you enjoyed it. If anyone is confuzed it started halfway through chapter one and followed Sasuke, rather than Haku.

I would also like to thank all the people who faved, followed and reviewed this story (I'll let you know I had a mini spas whenever I saw those e-mails) and it is very encouraging to an author.

So please review and tell me what you think. I'm open to any ideas.

Ja ne, Rei.


	3. Seeing Mist

I'm back! Really sorry about not updating, reality showed itself. . . anyway, you're here to read about Naruto's life not mine. Read on!

Disclaimer: Kishimoto is smart and creative. . . I am not. Therefore, I did not create Naruto and do not own it.

* * *

_I act the fool, not because I want to but because I have to. If I fail in everything, I don't get sabotaged by those who hate me. If I stuff up or fall because I can't see, it can be brushed off as being clumsy. I am blind, but sometimes that's a good thing. I can see nothing yet I see more then then the all seeing byakugan, the copying sharingan or the legendary rinnegan. No deception will ever work on me, I see it all. - Uzumaki Naruto_

* * *

"-atch a cold sleeping out here" Naruto heard as he felt himself being shook and woken up. He vaguely recognised that this was the hunter nin that had taken Zabuza. He sat up, quickly sensing for any others in the area only to discover that it was him and the hunter.

"Huh?" Was Naruto's oh-so-intelligent reply to being awoken, automatically slipping into his act of being an idiot, focusing his unseeing eyes on the person in front of him. Creating the illusion that he could see.

"You'll catch a cold sleeping out here." The nin repeated. "But if I may ask, why are you sleeping outside in the forest? I'm sure you must have a home or somewhere else you can stay."

"Yeah, I was training and fell asleep while having a little rest." He said before giving the person his trademark grin. "Don't worry about me though, hunter-san, I'm sure your busy."

The nin drew in a sharp breath and froze, before attempting to play innocent. "W-what are you t-talking abo-" but was cut off by the blond who was quickly becoming an enigma to the confused tool.

"You have the same smell, voice and chakra signature as the hunter. Although now it's a little less cold. How is Zabuza-san anyway? Those senbon must have really hurt."

"Guess the acts up, huh?" Without waiting for a reply the nin continued. "Zabuza-sama is recovering well but it will be a few days at least before he is fully healed."

"Huh, well that sounds about true for our sensei also. Minor case of chakra exhaustion." Naruto said, to clarify.

"Actually. . ." Haku started, before realising he didn't know the boys name.

"Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto." He said with a grin, quickly realising why the other boy was hesitant.

"Haku." After a brief pause the now identified Haku restarted. "Zabuza-sama actually wished to speak to you, not sure what about but he is interested in your abilities."

This startled the blond and he quickly thought about several reasons as to why the infamous Demon of the Mist would want to talk to him.

Haku, seeing the boys hesitance, quickly defended his masters case. "He said that he just wants to talk. Honest. Zabuza-sama said that if you still wouldn't come then to give you a message. I don't get the meaning myself but he said it would convince you." After a slight pause Haku relayed the message from his master.

"The one who underestimates the fox ends up dead, as the fox hides the true skill. As such the fox also hides weaknesses, for if no weakness exists then no weakness can be exploited. And so the blind fox sees."

It was Naruto's turn to freeze his mind racing a mile a minute. 'How does he know about the fox? And that I'm blind, not even Hokage-sama saw through my act. Haku seems to be telling the truth, if the readings I'm getting from her chakra are accurate. So I should see what Zabuza wants, I already know he doesn't want to kill me."

"Okay, I will come with you to talk to Zabuza-san, Haku-san, but only because I believe that he only wants to talk." Naruto said cautiously, but adding one of his grins to keep his façade convincing.

"Hai, if you would please come here I will transport us to his location. I was ordered to make sure we cannot be tracked."

"Um. . . Okay" Naruto was admittedly nervous about coming face-to-face yet again with the infamous nin.

However, his decision already made through logical thought and careful consideration, he walked up to Haku, blue eyes open and continually creating the illusion of being able to see.

Five seconds later, with a wrench and the feeling of space around them being distorted, they were gone. The only thing to say that they were ever there quickly disappearing. Ice crystals melting in seconds.

* * *

In that five seconds, the jutsu had been complete and Naruto and Haku were in the same room as Zabuza. However, the sudden motion made Naruto dizzy, screwing with his equilibrium and almost making him fall. Haku, thankfully, still had a firm arm on his shoulder so he managed to retain his balance.

Along with his dignity as a shinobi.

Naruto 'stared' at Zabuza, his gaze being returned in equal force. Both ninja scrutinizing the other. Soon after Naruto's eyes glazed over as the boy listened to the Kyuubi.

Zabuza continued to stare, even after Haku excused himself to mix the herbs into a healing remedy, escaping the increasingly tense atmosphere and leaving the two alone in the room.

"Enough with the staring, kit. You ain't gonna get nowhere like that." Kyuubi interrupted into Naruto's thoughts.

**"Shut up, Kura-nii. If I back down he'll see me as weak."** Naruto responded vehemently, although he knew the Fox was just pressing his buttons.

**"You humans and your stupid pride, your shinobi"** Kurama stressed the word. **"You play dirty using all the advantages you get. Honour and pride will only hinder you."** He then degraded into rant about this for a good minute. This discussion had been had many times. While Naruto would take that advice in a fight, he saw no reason to follow that outside of the battlefield.

Kurama had different views.

"Whatever, Kyuu. Why did you want to talk to me?" Naruto suddenly cut off the Bijuu

**"I wanted to tell you to stop your staring contest. Now that that's done though, get your mind focussed and ask what the hell he wants."** Kyuubi replied, thoroughly annoyed at the humans behaviour.

During the two minutes this conversation had taken up, Zabuza had raised a non-existent eyebrow at the blond boy.

Naruto, remaining almost subconsciously aware of Zabuza's movements, noticed this but paid it no mind. However he was always careful that he did not leave himself open to attack.

Being caught off guard by hateful villagers and shinobi on too many occasions had that effect on people.

As Naruto returned to reality, his eyes cleared and his face lost that distant I'm-not-really-here-look that people get when reminiscing.

"So, you finally decided to join me, gaki? I thought you ran away to your happy place, too scared to face a real ninja." Zabuza said, his tone harsh but Naruto could feel the hidden grin. Like he could feel the glares of the villagers as he walked past.

"I wasn't scared, I was just checking something with the fox. You have no idea how helpful a 10 000 year old demon can be." Naruto said, bringing to life Zabuza's grin on his own face.

He did not miss the slight waver of chakra that signified Zabuza's confusion.

Naruto's grin instantly dropped. 'Does he not know about the fox? I thought he did, his message was so centred around it, it left almost no room for doubt.

"Kid, what are you talking about?" With that single sentence, his fears were confirmed. He'd just told a possible enemy one of two secrets that he swore to not tell anyone who didn't figure it out themselves, and now Zabuza would really have reason to hate him.

"I mean, I know your blind and am honestly surprised no one else seems to know. And your fighting style reminded me of a fox, so I centred the message around that if anyone overheard. But now your talking as if there is a fox."

With a solemn, defeated, nod, Naruto confirmed to Zabuza that this was the case, he'd already slipt too much to cover up. Zabuza was not an S-class ninja for nothing.

"I am Uzumaki Naruto, Jinchūriki of the 9-Tailed Demon Fox. Kyuubi no Kitsune." Naruto said in a dull, monotonous voice. A practiced, used voice, Zabuza realized with a start. He had figured as much, the pieces had been easy to put together after the slip, he had just needed the confirmation.

"Is that why you pretend to be weaker then you are, gaki? Pretend you're not blind?"

"A part of it, how could you tell I was blind? The medics couldn't, the Byakugan nor Sharingan could see it either. Hokage-sama is oblivious to my condition. So what gave me away to you?" Naruto questioned, wanting to know what gave him away. His façade discarded. There was no point in hiding what someone already knew about.

"The way you looked at me when I was charging, I met your eyes but I felt like they were looking at my soul. Not at me." At this Zabuza let out a small chuckle. "I thought I had gotten rid of the thing."

"Don't doubt yourself. There are worse people then you out there, you still care, for Haku I think." Naruto said with a grin.

Zabuza was surprised, but as a ninja he had long ago learned to mask such emotions. "And what makes you so sure, kid?"

"Your chakra, it's hard to explain how I know, but I can tell by your chakra."

"Uh-huh. . . ." Zabuza trailed off, doubtful.

"So," Naruto started, changing the topic, "you wanted to talk to me. Can we get to the reason why? I don't particularly like sharing my limits and abilities with someone who one day may try to kill me." Naruto said, scratching the back of his head with a nervous grin on his face.

"Yeah sure, to tell you the truth you interest me, gaki. You have managed to hide the fact that your blind from everyone. Which would take some skill. And your taijutsu style looks rather difficult. Where did you learn that anyway?"Zabuza asked, curious as to who would know how to pull off such manoeuvres.

"I made it." Came the startling reply from the young blond kid in front of him. "No one would teach the 'demon brat' any of their own personal styles and those who would didn't know one that would suit my build. Plus if I looked bad to my academy instructors they wouldn't try to make my form worse. I had a lot of help from Kyuubi and. . . Yeah just Kyuubi, to touch it up. But the basis is my own." Zabuza blinked, then blinked again. Before schooling his features and getting over his shock.

Who would have thought that such a young boy could come up with something so difficult? Although the kid was hiding something but he wasn't going to pry. 'He has his secrets, I have mine.' Were the thoughts going through his head.

"The other interesting thing was the number of clones you made, kid. But I'm gonna take a stab and say they were fuelled by Kyuubi's chakra."

With a shake of his head Naruto explained "The seal my- the Yondaime used to seal him makes it necessary for me to have enough chakra to push back the foxes should he try to force his way free. I only have about a quarter of what he has but we've come to a mutual understanding. He won't try to break or control me unless there is a threat to our lives."

Zabuza nodded. 'So he's like me? With a powerful father who has no respect for family? No, I don't think so… he loves his father, but I tried to overthrow that man. I disowned my father but he is proud to be his father's son. Why?' It seemed that the more questions Zabuza asked the kid, the more questions he got.

"So, gaki, I have a proposal. I know a few jutsu that you could benefit from and I need to talk to your leader. If you agree to give a message to your Hokage I'll teach you a technique." Zabuza proposed to the Jinchūriki, not telling him the real reason behind his training the brat.

"I may be able to manage it. He owes me some favours and I might even be able to convince him to let you be a konoha ninja if you'd like, I know your not that bad and Sensei has some say with the council if I can sway him. So it's a deal? You teach me I get you a job." Naruto confirmed.

"Gaki. I don't want to become a Konoha nin, I just want to talk to your leader. Don't ask me why, I have my own reasons." Zabuza told Naruto firmly.

"Alright. Just know that the offer still stands." Naruto said, holding his hand out. Zabuza grabbed the offered hand and they sealed the deal with a shake.

"So, what are the jutsu you have in mind?" Naruto said, most of his nervousness diminished.

"We're going to start with your wardrobe. I will not permit a shinobi I have trained to wear a 'kill me now' target. The orange has to go!"

The look on Naruto's face was one that led Zabuza to believe he did not know what he was wearing. It was a look of pure horror that soon turned to one of a seething rage.

Then, unexpectedly, he chuckled. It got louder and louder until it was full blown laughter and he was almost crying from the force.

Calming down the blond spoke. "Now that's rich, I managed to sneak into the Hokage tower, steal a guarded artefact, get out and remain incognito for over an hour, undetected, in an ORANGE jumpsuit!" At the end, the boy was again reduced to a laughing mass on the floor.

Zabuza blinked, blinked again and blinked once more before adding his voice to the chorus of laughter in the room. This boy was better then he thought.

Getting himself under control Zabuza once again spoke. "They must have pretty poor security if a genin could get past." he stated.

"Actually," Naruto started, "there was a squad of ANBU in the area and I had to pass through the Hokage's office to get to the storage vault, and I hadn't graduated from the academy."

"What did you steal?" Zabuza questioned, there were few things that required such tight security.

"The forbidden scroll of sealing." Naruto answered, as if stealing it had been no big deal and was an everyday thing for the blind boy.

There was silence, then suddenly, as if on cue, they both erupted into laughter, and Zabuza understood a little more about the young boy's specialties.

Soon after Haku came out, reprimanding Zabuza for moving too much and applying the remedy he had prepared to treat the wounds.

After a lot of grouching and pleading, Haku managed to convince his master to get some sleep. Leaving the two boys alone in the room.

* * *

For a while, Naruto stood there awkwardly, Haku mimicking his actions and mood almost perfectly.

3 minutes and one rant from Kyuu later, Naruto tentatively started a conversation with the other conscious human in the room.

"Ne, Haku-san, how do you feel about living like this, on the run constantly from hunter-nin?"

Haku was startled out of his thoughts suddenly and thought about it.

"I'm happy wherever Zabuza-sama is. He saved me and gave me a purpose after… I don't really like to talk about it but I'm happy just to stay by his side. My only fear is that Zabuza-sama isn't happy that he won't be able to pass his knowledge on to someone he feels is worthy before he… before he…" Haku suddenly started to sob and Naruto was at a loss as to what to do.

Slowly the blond walked over to the other boy and held him, he just let Haku cry on his shoulder like only one other person had ever done for him. The boys stayed like that for an indiscernible amount of time, neither saying anything but becoming good friends all the same. Even the kyuubi respected the moment and let the boys have their peace; who knew when they would be able to again.

* * *

Naruto paid attention to the way Zabuza's chakra was being manipulated and worked on recreating it.

As he worked he went through the steps in his mind, 'half ram and reverse half ram, gather chakra to fingers and slowly spread it over the area, gather water to chakra, split water, gather again, repeat, send more chakra, gather water, split, repeat and repeat again.' 10 minutes after he started all Zabuza could see was in a 5 metre radius.

"Almost gaki," He called out to the mist, "you need to split your chakra more, make the droplets smaller, you'll use less that way."

"Hai." Came the sharp reply as the mist slowly cleared and the young boy was once again visible.

He then put his hands in the seals for Hidden Mist Jutsu and began to spread his chakra.

He gathered the water, split it, split again and again, then sent out more. After splitting each droplet 5 times he called out. "Zabuza-sensei, does it need to be thicker or split more?"

After receiving an answering "Split it some more." Which sounded from everywhere as a disembodied voice, he began to split his chakra again.

After another fives times the air felt as if it was a swimming pool. But it was also possible for Naruto to sense where Zabuza was, which was rather difficult before with so much chakra in the air.

"That's a little better, now you just have to learn to get this same effect in less then a minute. That took half an hour." Zabuza called out, making Naruto slump in defeat.

"And I can't even use my Kage Bunshin because of the overlap. . ." Naruto muttered before memorising how his chakra felt in the air, dropping it and once again performing the jutsu.

Almost 3 hours later, he had successfully performed the technique 7 times, now doing it in little under 22 minutes and getting the water density just right every time.

After another 5 hours of practice he had performed the Hidden Mist Jutsu 40 times and could do it in 10 minutes.

By now, it was also time for dinner, courtesy of Haku, and Naruto was starting to get hungry.

For the next week, the days went by the same: Naruto perfecting his control of the Kirigakure no Jutsu and working on being completely soundless in his movements. He had learnt the silent killing technique and was ready to return to his team.

* * *

As Naruto walked, he once again shaped his hands into the Kirigakure hand seals and channelled the chakra through them and into the air.

Carefully separating it and drawing water from the ground, he slowly, painstakingly slowly, brought in a light mist.

Now sitting on a tree he continued the jutsu for several hours, at a speed that would be considered natural he created the mist.

Finally, Tazuna called a stop to work and everyone started to leave. At the same time he walked along the bridge towards his team, keeping the mist thick enough that they wouldn't be able to distinguish who he was.

When Naruto was five meters away from them he stopped and spoke "Hey guys, I'm back." Putting on his signature grin and scratching the back of his head.

There were mixed reactions , Sakura started to imitate a fish, Sasuke 'hn, dobe'-ed and went back to brooding while Kakashi pulled out a kunai.

"Naruto?" Kakashi asked warily. There was chakra in the mist, that means Zabuza is nearby.

"Yeah it's me Kakashi sensei. Could you put the kunai down?" Again scratching his head. "I mean, it's not like Zabuza's going to jump out of the mist and kill us all."

"Hn, yeah, Uzumaki. It is like Zabuza is going to jump out of the mist and kill us all. Who else could have caused this?" said Sasuke stating the seemingly obvious fact.

"Yeah, Naruto. Stop being such a baka. Where have you been anyway?" Sakura screeched as she prepared to hit him.

"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you." Naruto replied laughing nervously before continuing, "And if Zabuza was going to jump out at us he would have by now. Rather then slowly walking towards us like he is." Naruto stated.

He made it seem like having the demon of the bloody mist in the area was the same as standing next to Umino Iruka, perfectly harmless unless you did something to incur his wrath.

Kakashi immediately put up his guard, Sakura and Sasuke got back to back holding kunai and Naruto put up his hand in a lazy wave and said, in true Kakashi style, "Yo."

"Gaki, you really are something," Zabuza said.

"Do I even want to know what you guys are talking about?" Kakashi asked. His guard up.

"Hello Kakashi, it's good to see you again." Zabuza greeted. He was the opposite of Kakashi, completely calm and relaxed, as if he wasn't standing in the middle of hostiles.

"Momochi." Came the terse reply.

"So are we going to fight or what?" Sasuke asked, getting impatient.

"We are not here to fight." Haku told the boy in reply

"Then why are you here?" Sasuke asked suspiciously.

Haku laughed nervously before pointing at Naruto. Sasuke rounded on the unwitting blond.

"Just where have you been the last week?" he demanded, not caring that he seemed to be in a conversation with Kakashi and Zabuza.

He was promptly ignored. Of course his Uchiha pride wouldn't stand for this and he kicked up a huge fuss.

"Don't you ignore me! I am an Uchiha, an elite. I'm your superior and you must listen to me!" He yelled.

He then went to punch Naruto, who dodged right, turned around and swung his arm to connect with the Uchiha's head, only to discover that both Kakashi and Zabuza had simultaneously beaten him to it.

"I didn't like his attitude." Both responded automatically before turning on the other suspiciously and scrutinising him, as if he didn't believe his excuse . Which was good because they both had ulterior motives for hitting the Uchiha but they didn't want Naruto to know that.

It was useless of course, as Naruto sensed the lie in the way their chakra twisted upon itself when they gave their replies.

"He deserved that." Haku said, not really caring about what happened.

"Sasuke!" Sakura yelled when she finally registered the result of the events she hadn't been witness to."Naruto-baka, have more respect for Sasuke-kun, he's so much better than you after all."

Naruto instantly hid behind the jounin, thinking she was going to try hit him again.

Zabuza choked, unable to comprehend the words coming out of the kunoichi's mouth while Kakashi sighed and mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like "sometimes I wonder why I ever agreed to take a genin team."

"He's here." Haku said suddenly. "It's Gato."

* * *

I hope you enjoyed it!

If anyone has an amazing idea that they want to tell me, then go ahead. I do have a semblance of a plan though and an 800-ish word story for how Naruto got blinded. . . just need to find somewhere to put it in. . .

Anyway please review and have a good day :D


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